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 GPWS or TAWS. The official also testified that some countries still consider terrain data to be a military secret.

1.18.4.3 Federal Aviation Administration Form 8260

FAA Form 8260 provides charting companies with information for publishing instrument procedures. This form includes data for the terminal area and final and missed approach standards. The manager of the FAA's Western Flight Procedures Development Branch testified at the Safety Board's public hearing that the FAA distributes approach procedures to industry user groups (including ALPA, the Air Transport Association, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) and airport operators for comment. The manager testified that the user groups receive information that describes the approach in words or numbers and does not depict the proposed published approach. According to ALPA's submission, the information that the FAA releases "bears no resemblance to the final user product," which "seriously hampers the ability to readily and effectively critique the proposed approach procedure."

1.18.4.4 Previous Safety Board Recommendations Related to Approach Procedure Design

On November 12, 1995, American Airlines flight 1572, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N566AA, collided with trees in East Granby, Connecticut, while on final approach to runway 15 at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The airplane then landed safely at the airport. Of the 78 airplane occupants, 1 passenger received minor injuries during the emergency evacuation. The Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew's failure to maintain the required MDA until the required visual references identifiable with the runway were in sight. As a result of its investigation, the Board issued Safety Recommendations A-96-128, A-96-129, and A-96-131 through -133 on November 13, 1996.

Safety Recommendation A-96-128 asked the FAA to

Evaluate Terminal Instrument Procedures design criteria for nonprecision approaches to consider the incorporation of a constant rate or constant angle of descent to minimum descent altitude in lieu of step-down criteria.

On February 24, 1997, the FAA stated that it would begin implementation of instrument approach development proposals in late 1997. On June 26, 1997, the Safety Board stated that it was waiting to review the pending FAA proposals in response to this recommendation. On January 28, 1998, the FAA stated that it developed draft criteria to provide a constant angle of descent for aircraft with area and vertical navigation and that these criteria were incorporated into a draft order, which was being coordinated with